Journal #11
Dos of Being a Writing Fellow:
-write down what your peer says when you’re talking about the paper at first, this is the most casual and genuine they’ll probably be throughout the whole meeting.
-email your peers if you get something wrong. They’ll probably want to know that the running head is supposed to be in the upper left had corner in APA format instead of on the bottom right. It looks better to admit that you’re not perfect than to pretend you are.
-ask them what they normally do when they write- so you don’t tell them what they already know.
-change your approach to see what works: a nervous freshman is probably not going to be as comfortable as a second-semester senior.
-bring homework to your office hours. Otherwise, it’s gonna be a long three hours.
Don’ts of Being a Writing Fellow:
-get upset at someone for being late: at least they showed up.
-be afraid to get off-topic. As a peer, if you’re interested in an experience they’ve had or the type of person they are, it’s pretty customary to ask. Being a writing fellow is straddling the role of tutor and peer- so it’s okay to talk about proper usage of semi-colons, and about your peer’s pet hamster.
-tell them they should have done more work. That’s totally the professors thing and it’s kind of a threat to job security if you do. Also it doesn’t help anyone (including yourself).
